Napkin dispenser



P 16, 1958 v. c. JONES ElAL 7 2,852,158

NAPKIN DISPENSER Filed Sept. 10. 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS DAVID c. HOPE V\NCENT CJONES Y W Mm.

P 1958 v. c. JONES ETAL 2,852,158

' NAPKIN DISPENSER Filed Sept. 10. 1956 2 Sheefs-Sheet 2 g Q i 6 E E |4v INVENTORS DAVlD G. HOPE 5 VINCENTCJONES @MM-A United States Patent ce 3 NAPKIN DISPENSER Vincent C. Jones, Appleton, and David G. Hope, Wauwatosa, Wis., assignors, by mesne assignments, to American Can Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 10, 1956, Serial No. 609,001 3 Claims. ((1221-35) This invention relates to improvements in dispensers for paper napkins of that type in which a closed container is provided for holding folded paper napkins, or like articles, to protect them against soiling previous to use, and to permit the withdrawal of but a single article and at the same time to prevent waste of the articles.

The invention is described in further detail in the following description and is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of the dispenser,

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional side view of the dispenser, partially cut away, taken on lines 2-2 of Figure 1, showing one of the front closure panels in opened positron,

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view, partially cut away, of the inside bottom of the dispenser taken on lines 3-3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the bottom of the dispenser taken on lines 44 of Figure 3, and

Figure 5 is a front view of one of the dispenser pusher plates.

The dispenser of the present invention is essentially an improvement of the dispenser construction described in U. S. Patent 2,027,670 January 14, 1936. The dispenser is designed for use in the dispensing of napkins or the like which are so folded as to present a front free tab through the dispensing slot or orifice in position to be grasped by the user. In such circumstances, it is necessary to make provision for the confinement of the upper edges of the napkins in the stack while the grasping tab is released for projection into the slot, so that the tab of a single napkin only will be presented to the user. The folded napkins suitable for use in this dispenser are of the type disclosed in U. S. Patents 1,880,345 October 4, 1932; 2,082,731 January 1, 1937; and 2,093,724 September 21, 1937.

The dispenser is formed of a container designated generally by numeral 5 which is supported on legs 6 at the lower corners thereof, as shown in Figure 1. The container is formed by a bottom wall element 11 and opposed side walls 14 and 15. The opposed open ends of the container are closed by closure panels 20 hinged to the bottom wall 11 of the container by means of hinges 21 and rivets 21a. The panels 20 are provided with dispensing slots or openings 22 for withdrawing folded napkins 30 therethrough one at a time. The closure panels 20 are adapted to be swung open, as shown at the left of Figure 2, to permit access to the container for positioning stacks of aligned folded napkins 30 therein having grasping portions 30a thereof positioned to face the dispensing openings 22.

Spaced pusher plates 40, generally rectangular in shape, are attached by rivets 41 to the free ends of a U-shaped spring 45 which in turn is attached by rivet 46 to the bottom wall 11 of the container. The spring 45 serves to normally urge the pusher plates 40 forwardly toward the closure panels 20 and thereby forwardly urge the stacks of napkins positioned in the container.

The pusher plates 40 are provided with a pair of wing 2,852,158 Patented Sept. 16,

portions 47 extending from each side thereof and integral therewith to act as stop portions as will be explained later. A flange portion 48 is provided at the medial portion of each pusher plate which is formed by slitting the pusher plates along lines 50 and 51 and bending the medial portions thereof forwardly to form a flange 48 so as to extend toward the closure panels 20, as shown in Figure 2. The flanges 48 serve to how the rear of the stack of napkins positioned in the container. The upper portions 40a of the pusher plates are bowed rearwardly of the container, as shown in Figure 2, so as to permit the upper portion of the stack of napkins to assume the same contour.

The napkins 30 are so folded as to present a substantially greater thickness of material throughout the lower portion 30c of the stack, that is to say, within the region which includes the shorter free tab portions, while the upper portion 30b of the stack comprises those portions of the individual napkins which extend above the level of the tabs.

The configuration of the closure panels 20 and pusher plates 40 is such as to afford greater fore and aft space in the pocketed region of the panel, which not only provides for greater thickness of the lower portion of the stack, but also serves to bulge the stack forwardly in its center portion while the upper portion of the stack is held back and restrained by the lip 24. The flange portion 48, as previously explained, serves to press against the rear of the stack of napkins so as to bulge the napkin portions above the flange 48 inwardly of the container. This bulging of the stack in the region adjacent to the slot serves to free the outermost grasping tab 30a from confinement and permits it to project freely from the adjacent confined portion of the napkin to which it is attached, so that ample clearance is afiorded to permit the user to readily grasp the tab thus presented and withdraw the outermost napkin from the dispenser.

The facility of manipulation is increased by the rearward dishing of the upper portion 26 of the closure panel, which thus affords a slot or aperture standing in a plane of substantially 45 and allowing for ready insertion of the finger behind the foremost tab. At the same time the arrangement is such that the outermost napkin prior to withdrawal will completely close the aperture so that it will not be feasible to secure grasping contact with the upper edges of the napkins while confined within the container. The arrangement also prevents the ingress of dust, dirt or foreign material through the aperture and protects all of the napkins behind the outermost napkin from possibility of soil or contamination.

A U-shaped channel member formed of bottom wall element 11 and right-angular side flanges 62 is positioned in the bottom of the receptacle 5 and is attached to the underturned lower portion of walls 14 and 15 by rivets 65. The channel member is slit along lines 66, 67 and 68 to provide upstanding lugs 70 which engage the sides of the spring 45 and serve to retain the spring in position. The bottom wall 11 is also shaped so as to provide longitudinally beaded or curved runners 61 on which the bottom portions of the stack of napkins are supported for sliding thereon.

The side flanges 62 extend upwardly within the receptacle 10 about halfway upwardly within the container. The upper free edges of the flanges 62 are suitably cut so as to provide stop portions 73 adjacent the openable ends of the container and a medially positioned stop member 72 within the receptacle, as shown in Figure 2. The free edge portions 74 of the side flanges 62 between the stop portions 72 and 73 are cut so as to incline slightly forward toward the openable ends of the recpetacle. The wing portions 47 of the pusher plates 40 are dimensioned so as to contact the stop portions 73 when the closure panels 20 are hinged open so as to limit the outward travel of the pusher plates. Likewise the wing portions 47 are adapted to contact the upstanding vertical edges 72a of stop portion 72 and thereby limit the inward movement of each pusher plate 40. It will thus be seen that each of the pusher plates 40 cannot be moved past the central portion of the receptacle and thus in effect two compartments are formed by the pusher plates, each of which can receive a separate stack of napkins. Furthermore, each closure panel may be opened separately without disturbing the stack of napkins in the opposed compartment of the receptacle. The closure panels 20 may be releasably maintained in the dispenser-closed condition of Figure 1 by conventional means such as detents 80.

The construction of the dispenser is relatively simple as compared with prior art dispensers and has the advantages of comprising a minimum of parts and low cost of manufacture. There is a minimum of parts which can get out of order during continued use,

We claim:

1. A dispenser for folded napkins and the like comprising a receptacle having top, bottom and side walls, a pair of hinged opposed closure panels closing the ends of the receptacle, said panels being hinged at said bottom wall, said panels being provided with dispensing openings for removing individual napkins therethrough, a channel member comprising said bottom wall of the receptacle and spaced side flanges integral therewith, a U-shaped spring member affixed to the medial portion of said bottom wall, pusher plates attached to the free ends of said spring member for individually urging a stack of napkins toward the hinged closure panels, front stop portions integral and substantially co-planar with said side flanges adjacent the hinged panels, said stop portions being adapted to limit the forward travel of said pusher plates, and a stop portion integral with said channel member positioned intermediate said front stop portions adapted to limit the travel of said pusher plates inwardly of the receptacle, said pusher plates being provided with lateral wing portions adapted to contact said stop portions, said pusher plates each being provided with a flange portion extending forwardly of the pusher plate and adapted to contact the rear of a stack of napkins positioned adjacent thereto to how the intermediate portions of the napkins inwardly of the dispensing openings in the hinged closure panels and to permit a grasping portion of the napkin to protrude through said dispensing openings, said bottom wall beingprovided with longitudinally extending raised runner portions on which the bottom of the stacks of napkins is supported and to slide thereon.

2. A dispenser for folded napkins and the like combottom wall, pusher plates attached to the free ends of said spring member for individually urging a stack of napkins toward the hinged closure panels, front stop portions integral and substantially co-planar with said side flanges adjacent the hinged panels, said stop portions being adapted to limit hte forward travel of said pusher plates, and a stop portion integral with said channel member positioned intermediate said front stop portions adapted to limit the travel of said pusher plates inwardly of the receptacle, said pusher plates being provided with lateral wing portions adapted to contact said stop portions, said pusher plates each being provided with a flange portion extending forwardly of the pusher plate and adapted to contact the rear of a stack of napkins positioned adjacent thereto to bow the intermediate portions of the napkins inwardly of the dispensing openings in the hinged closure panels and to permit a grasping portion of the napkin to protrude through said dispensing openings.

3. A dispenser for folded napkins and the like comprising a receptacle having top, bottom and side walls, a pair of hinged opposed closure panels closing the ends of the receptacle, said panels being hinged at said bottom wall, said panels being provided with dispensing openings for removing individual napkins therethrough, a channel member comprising said bottom wall of the receptacle and spaced side flanges integral therewith positioned at right angles to the bottom flange and extending upwardly within the receptacle, a U-shaped spring mem ber afiixed to the medial portion of said bottom wall, pusher plates attached to the free ends of said spring member for individually urging a stack of napkins toward the hinged closure panels, front stop portions integral and substantially co-planar with said side flanges adjacent the hinged panels, said stop portions being adapted to limit the forward travel of said pusher plates, and a stop portion integral with said channel member positioned intermediate said front stop portions adapted to limit the travel of said pusher plates inwardly of the receptacle and to provide two complementary compartment portions for retaining a separate stack of napkins in each compartment, said pusher plates being provided with lateral wing portions adapted to contact said stop portions, said pusher plates being provided with a flange portion extending forwardly of the pusher plate and adapted to contact the rear of a stack of napkins positioned adjacent thereto to how the intermediate portions of the napkins inwardly of the dispensing openings in the hinged closure panels and to permit a grasping portion of the napkin to protrude through said dispensing openings, said bottom wall being provided with longitudinally extending raised runner portions on which the bottom of the stacks of napkins is supported and to slide thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,793,682 Dahl Feb. 24, 1931 2,237,424 Hope Apr. 8, 1941 2,253,742 West et al. Aug. 26, 1941 2,547,856 Cofrin et al. Apr. 3, 1951 

